Ballistic backpacks are fabric sacks carried on a wearer's back that are secured by two straps that go over the wearer's shoulders. Backpacks are useful because they enable the wearer to carry heavy loads for prolonged periods and because they leave the wearer's hands free.
Various types of ballistic vests are desirable for protecting law enforcement and military personnel from projectiles fired from firearms and from shrapnel from explosions. Ballistic vests are worn on the torso and are used with metal or ceramic plates to provide additional protection from rifle rounds as well as resistance to stab and/attacks from knives and bayonets. Ballistic vests may also include shoulder and side protection armor components. Although ballistic vests can be configured to carry limited amounts of cargo in pouches and leave the wearer's hands free, they have very limited cargo carrying capacity compared to a backpack. Furthermore, when the ballistic backpack of the current invention is in the folded condition, the ability of the ballistic backpack to rapidly configure into body armor is concealed. In contrast, the protective nature of a ballistic vest and its association with law enforcement and military personnel are readily apparent to an observer.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved ballistic backpack that can be rapidly configured into body armor. In this regard, the various embodiments of the present invention substantially fulfill at least some of these needs. In this respect, the ballistic backpack according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of enabling rapid configuration into body armor.